Sheffield — Some mornings, a pickup truck rolls down a tiny access road and stops in the middle of a large cornfield in Sheffield. A few students and their teacher scramble out, lugging various parts and pieces of the model rockets they have launched at least a dozen times this year. If anyone is nearby, they will hear a sudden whoosh and maybe glimpse the rocket and its parachute drifting back down to the field. The invisible cargo? An egg, which must remain intact for the launch to be considered successful.
As far as they know, the five students in Chris Thompson’s Aerospace Engineering class at Mt. Everett represent the only school in the Berkshires competing in the American Rocketry Challenge. About 1,000 schools across the country compete. The main STEM outreach of the Aerospace Industries Association, the contest hopes to inspire the next generation of aerospace engineers. It is a big part of Thompson’s high school class (and the team is very grateful to Pine Island Farm for letting them use their fields). The students also learn to fly planes on a flight simulator and fly drones around campus.
“The whole idea of these tech teams that we offer here at Mt. Everett, whether it be robotics, or rockets, or drones, or cybersecurity, is to inspire the next generation of tech professionals,” says Thompson. “These kids will be driving the future of innovation.”
The rocket is made of plastic and a cardboard tube that houses the engine and the parachute. Fine tuning to get the weight right is the hardest part, the students agree. The relationship between the rocket’s center of pressure, which has to do with the size and shape of the fins, and the center of gravity is crucial for a straight flight, explains Thompson. The fins were designed in a 3D CAD program and cut with a laser cutter the school acquired this year.
Every year, the team has to jump through some hoops, including altitude and flight time. The rocket must ascend to the given altitude and descend by parachute within the flight time. On March 13, a representative from the National Association of Rocketry came to observe and score Mt. Everett’s official qualification flights. Of three launches, they score the best two.
Their first flight hit 826 feet, very close to this year’s goal of 820 feet, but March 13 was too calm, calmer than any conditions they had practiced under. With hardly any breeze, the rocket came down too fast for the specified window of 43 to 46 seconds. So they were penalized 6 points on the altitude and 21 points on time for a score of 27, which, Thompson says, “is very, very good and comparable to anything you would see at the national championship.”
And their egg, inside a foam nose cone, was completely intact. If it is cracked, the flight is disqualified.
“With the nose cone, you don’t even need a parachute,” says Tatum Oates, a junior. “One time the parachute didn’t even deploy and the rocket plummeted 820 feet, but the egg survived everything.”
“We lost some eggs early on. Once we figured it out, we don’t lose any more eggs,” laughs Thompson.
Their second qualification flight had some engine trouble, and the third was good but came up a little short on altitude, bringing their combined score to 125. They came closer last year, scoring 102, with teams under 100 invited to the national championship in Virginia. They have only modest expectations of qualifying this year, but will find out officially in mid-April.
Today, the three students read the wind and choose the larger parachute. “This one’s gonna fall really slow,” says Ben Vella, a sophomore. “He’s resetting the altimeter, relative to our current location.” That measures the altitude. Black powder, like a big firework, will detonate the rocket. “That makes it vulnerable to hairline fractures that can sometimes cause the engine to blow up,” says Ben. But they were able to rebuild one lost rocket in a day or two.
Everyone stands back. “Three, two, one,” they count, and it’s off. The noise gets the birds going.
Tatum and junior Declan Piel, who aspires to go into the aerospace field, watch it vanishing. “Looks a little short, in the 700-foot range. It was supposed to go straight.” They’re right. The rocket reaches 777 feet, aiming for 820 feet. It is capable of reaching over 1,000 feet, but they add weight to control the altitude.
Tatum gets the second rocket in position. “You want it tilting with the wind.”
“Tatum has the most experience of any of us, he was in the program last year,” explains Ben.
“This one’s a bit more smokey.” It comes down, conveniently, right near their truck.
The American rocketry champion would go on to the International Rocketry Challenge that takes place in Europe in July. “It would be the goal of this program to one day qualify for that event,” says Thompson. “Even if that is not the case this year, the kids have learned a ton and are all returning next year.”
Next year, they plan on transitioning to a club as well, with more teams to allow more students to participate as the popularity of the program grows.
“Some of these kids may have a career in the aerospace industry; but even if they don’t, they’ve learned valuable skills around teamwork, performing under pressure, and the importance of preparation and attention to detail,” Thompson notes.
“We just keep improving and learning,” adds Ben. “I think this time we just got unlucky, but we’ll keep getting better. We’ll give it another shot next year.”
